heartlines
by breakingatthecracks
Summary: The funny thing about growing up is that it has a way of showing you all the things your eyes missed before; like Riley, when she finally realizes that Maya has been in love with her all along. (In which, they're in college and it's tough—but they keep gravitating back to one another because maybe that's just how the world works.)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: It got lonely living across the world so I got into GMW and this is what happened. It's your fault we're here. Just a quick note that I'm jumping ahead because I need them to be in college, like stat.

Warnings: I am a terrible typer.

Girl Meets University

.

"This is it, huh," Topanga remarks, looking around the tiny dorm room as Lucas settles the final box from the pick-up.

"This is it, Mom," Riley nods with a smile. "I can't believe I'm going to be so far away from you," she adds, darting looks between her Mom and Dad.

Auggie, who now prefers to be called August, chuckles from his place on Riley's single bed, "Riley, our house is 10 minutes away." He adds, "On foot."

Cory grins, "Fifteen with traffic."

Riley manages a small laugh.

The decision to go to NYU wasn't a hard choice. NYU is where her mom got her Law degree; and it is actually just 10 minutes away from home. _On foot_. She got accepted to several schools including one in Michigan and Boston but she couldn't imagine living that far away from her parents.

Besides, she's already here in New York. A lot of people her age can only dream of coming here. She wasn't going to waste that opportunity. She's just thankful that her parents allowed her to live on-campus.

Cory didn't want to at first but Riley made a very elaborate argument about having a University experience she can only get if she's living independently, even if it's just on a different building in the same neighborhood.

Topanga had agreed with Riley and really, that was the end of the discussion and Cory knew it.

"Well, it's time for us to go, honey," Cory say as he spreads his arms to his sides, inviting his daughter for one last hug.

Riley smiles and goes in for the hug; and like clockwork, Topanga joins in.

August just looks at them which earns him a glare from her mother, "Auggie, come on. Hug your sister."

Left without a choice, August hops off the bed and joins the Matthews family hug, "Ugh."

Lucas takes out his phone and takes a picture of the moment.

After a few moments, Cory, Topanga, and August are gone, leaving just Lucas and Riley to themselves inside the tiny dorm room.

"You're going to have a roommate," Lucas says, eyeing the other bed on the opposite side of the room.

Riley's smile is wide, "Yeah, I checked the Random box."

Lucas mocks a proud nod, "Look at you, all grown up and shit."

Riley just laughs as she settles on her bed. The room is still bare. She'll need the next two days to completely Riley-fy her side of the room but for now, this feels right.

"Look at us, all grown up and shit."

Lucas lets out a breath, "Best of luck settling in."

"I hope my roommate is nice."

"Not too nice, I hope."

"Yeah, not too nice."

None of them admits that Maya crosses their minds at that.

Silence settles them for a while and it's when Riley realizes that she and Lucas never really knew how to be alone. After the whole _Triangle_ has ended, they dated each other until three years later, when they can no longer deny that the spark has been long gone.

Up until this day, Riley still wonders if there was ever a spark.

They broke up the summer before their senior year, both deciding to stay friends but not before they took a few weeks without communication. It all worked well. Their little group of misfits eventually became the kings of high school.

Until it was time to graduate.

Suddenly, Riley is about to meet the rest of the world by herself.

"I better keep going," Lucas says with a bittersweet smile. He knows this is the last she'll see Riley for a while.

"Yeah, of course," Riley nods. She stands and walks to where Lucas is standing, "Thanks for helping out today."

"Anytime," he says.

They gaze into each other's eyes and for the last time, Riley tries to reach out to the part of her that once thought he was the one. But at this moment, it's clear.

 _He's not the one_.

As good of a relationship it was, he's simply not the Cory to her Topanga.

"Goodbye, Riley."

"Goodbye, Lucas."

It feels like she's bidding goodbye to something else entirely, like the possibility of them being _them_ again.

She walks him to the door and kisses his cheek before he turns to leave. She watches him go and completely disappear once he turns the corner.

All a sudden, she's alone inside a room she can barely call her own. The sound of the city is so far away even though the building is standing right in the middle of it.

None of it makes sense.

New beginnings are weird.

.

Just a few minutes after the sun had set, Riley was able to finish dressing her bed and pulling out a couple of pictures for her desk.

She took her time sorting out the pictures she's going to display. After all, it's a Saturday and her classes don't start until Tuesday. She has time.

Of course, there's a picture of her with her parents and her brother. There's a picture of her with her friends—Farkle, Smackle, Lucas, Zay, and Maya. But perhaps, the one that grounds her the most is that of her and Maya.

Just looking at it makes her smile.

It's a picture of them taken on the day they graduated high school. They're both wearing their graduation cap and gown, sitting happily by the bay window. Riley is making a goofy face at the camera while Maya is looking at her smilingly, her eyes shining of something Riley can't put a finger on.

It's her favorite picture of her and her bestfriend.

Like a cool joke, her phone rings and she instantly recognizes that special ringtone. She grabs her phone from the desk and throws herself into the bed as she answers the call.

"Peaches," she opens, her smile wide and warm. Her ceiling above her is pale but her eyes are shining.

"Hey, sweetie," the voice from the other line greets. Riley can tell she's smiling in that way she always does when she's calling Riley by her pet name.

"I am so glad you called," Riley tells her.

"I told you I will."

"I miss you already!" she whines childishly. "Why did you have to be so far away?"

"Because this is the only school that's willing to give me a full ride," Maya says. "It's only three hours away, Riles."

"I know," Riley says with a sigh. Since she'd learned about where all of her friends are going after high school, she'd felt this constant pull in her chest.

Farkle and Smackle are both going to MIT. Lucas and Zay are headed to North Carolina to pursue their baseball scholarships. And then there's Maya.

After her first solo showcase last year, Maya got tons of calls from different art schools. They'd invited her for a tour and Maya only entertained the schools closest to home. In the end, she picked Pennsylvania College of Art & Design in Lancaster which is approximately three hours from NYC.

Not that Riley was calculating. Not that she'd researched different ways of cutting down the commute time.

"Hey," Maya pulls her out of her thoughts. Riley knows she'd sensed whatever Riley was feeling. She's Maya, of course, she'd sense it. "What did I tell you when you got into NYU?"

Riley smiles and the mimics Maya's voice, " _Good luck spending college life in the same neighborhood as your father_."

Maya laughs, loud. And there's that pull in her chest again.

"No, I mean after that."

" _If you need me to come home to you every week, I will,_ " Riley recites and almost tears up, again feeling how sincere Maya was when she said those words.

"And I mean it," Maya follows through from the other line.

"I just—" Riley stutters. "We've done everything together all our lives."

"Riles, we're just growing up, that's all. You're in New York, I'm in Pennsylvania. I'm not usually this optimistic but the only thing that's going to change is our zip code. I'm Peaches and you're every single term of endearment I can think of."

This makes Riley smile.

Maya was the first one who moved out. She got a cheap deal for a dorm room on-campus which required her to move in earlier than usual.

The next ones who moved out were Farkle and Smackle. It was Riley's turn and then there's Zay and Lucas who will be moving to North Carolina tomorrow.

"How's your roommate?" Riley asks, trying to get rid of that feeling in her gut. "Is she better than me?"

Maya laughs again, "She's been absent so far. But maybe, we'll see. Who knows, I might find somebody else who turns gold at 5:30."

"Maya! I will hurt them!" she spats and gasps the moment it left her mouth. It was worth it, 'cause she can hear Maya laughing on the other line.

"Relax, Drama Queen. My roommate could be Michelle Obama and she still wouldn't be better than you."

"Well, good to know I am still better than the best first lady who ever lived."

They settle for a comfortable silence after that. Though Riley hates silence in general, silence with Maya is easy. Anything with Maya is easy.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it today. I was short on cash."

Riley had known this, that's why she really didn't complain or demand much. After all, they're all growing up now and the world is no longer a large-scale version of Rileytown. It's real world time now and this world needs Riley and Maya to be three hours and $45 away from each other.

"It's okay, Maya. It would've been so much better if you're here but I'm fine. I'll see you soon, right?"

"How soon do you want me to be there?"

"Next week?"

"I've got a better idea."

"What?"

"Open the door."

Riley's eyes widen in an instant as she quickly jumps off her bed and runs the short distance to the door. She grabs the knob and swings the door open with a force similar to actually ripping it from the frame.

And on the other side stands Maya, still very Maya even though they haven't seen each other in three weeks. She's still holding her phone close to her ear.

"Sweetie," Maya greets with a smile.

"Peaches," Riley greets back, pulling her best friend for a crushing hug. It's the first time since Maya left that the weird pull in her chest stopped making loud noises. For a moment there, it's peaceful. For a moment there, her world is in place and the ground under her feet stops shaking.

Just by showing up at her doorstep, Maya was able to put Riley's world back together. That's what best friends are for, right? They travel three hours from a different state just to share a special moment with you.

"You're here," Riley mutters as they pull apart.

"Of course. I just couldn't get in earlier 'cause I had a job interview at the café near the school."

"Did you get the job?"

Maya shrugs, smug, "They gave me a few hours per week. How else will I ever afford coming home to you when you need me?"

Riley grins and once again pulls Maya in a hug. Her heart is beating fast for some odd reason but she ignores it. She's ignoring so many odd feelings right now because Maya is here and it's all that ever matters.

"Are you ever going to let me in or—"

Riley cuts her off by tugging at her wrist to drag her inside the room. They share a laugh and the normality of it manages to strip away any kind of fear that had clung onto Riley.

They're going to be fine. She just knows.

And just like that, Riley… Riley is Riley again.

.

Riley is woken up the next day by the sound of footsteps tentatively padding across the room.

Though reluctantly, she opens her eyes and wills herself up. By the time her environment registers to her, she sees someone standing in the middle of the room, smiling at her in this way that you know they're apologetic for waking you up.

"Hi," the girl greets with a small smile.

Though she really has no idea who the girl is, Riley manages a smile and a small wave. She rubs her eyes with her knuckles as if still trying to wake herself up.

"I'm your roommate," the girl tells her and that's only the time Riley makes sense of it.

"Oh! Right!" she grins so stupidly wide as she hops off her bed and crosses the room in one stride. "I'm Riley!" she introduces herself. She extends her hand to the stranger.

The stranger smiles, this time wider too, as she shakes Riley's hand, "Aria."

"Aria, that's a cool name."

For a moment there, Riley studies Aria. She's not a lot taller than Riley but she seems more mature. It's the way she had chosen to choose this heavily patterned white top with her plain black skirt; or the way she'd chosen those dark brown calf boots; or the way her short, brunette hair ends just above her shoulders. There's something seasoned about her, maybe that's why Riley has a feeling they'd get along just fine.

"Thanks," Aria says. "I'm sorry I woke you up."

"Nah," she dismisses casually. "We just had a long night, is all."

"We?"

And that reminds her—

She turns around only to find her bed empty.

"My bestfriend spent the night," she says, slightly confused. _Where the hell are you, Maya?_

After spending hours just talking about the last three weeks they've been apart, Maya and Riley had fallen asleep beside each other on Riley's tiny bed. The space was small but they've managed, and Riley still wonders how they did that.

"She must've slipped out for a bit," Riley concludes, turning back to Aria.

Before Aria could utter another word, a ball of sleepy mess that is Maya walks effortlessly inside the room with a paper bag on one hand and a tray of two cups on the other.

"I got hungry," she mutters under breath.

Something happens in that exact moment.

It's probably that slight ray of sunlight that managed to slither through the half-covered windows; or maybe the way her blonde hair is all up in a loose bun that only highlights her face—but right at that moment, Riley sees Maya in a completely different way. And in a way she's never seen her before.

Right at that moment, when Maya is sleepy and a tad vulnerable, Riley feels something that's in equal parts powerful and tender. She can't quite explain it.

It's real. She feels it in her gut. And you see, Riley feels a lot of things. She can feel five different kinds of feelings in the span of two seconds but this is different.

Seeing Maya there, standing by her door as this new life dawns upon them, something inside Riley shifts.

She doesn't know how to name it.

It's because she's never felt it before.

.

Before she realizes it, Maya and Aria have already acquainted themselves with each other. As Riley sits there completely dumbstruck with her personal moment earlier, her bestfriend and her roommate have already bonded.

Turns out, they are both artists. Aria is a second-year transferee from UPenn who transferred to NYU because she wanted to _get away_. Maya reacts with a good-natured mockery to it, saying, "You are terrible at making decisions," in which Aria responded with a laugh.

Riley had laughed with her as well but deep inside, she's still torn between trying to name that feeling from earlier and wondering how Maya is so good with people despite claiming to hate them.

It's an artist thing, Riley guesses.

.

Riley finds herself that night slumped on her bed, looking at the plain ceiling above her. Maya is already about two and a half hours on her journey back to Lancaster.

Aria has just finished setting up her bed and is currently typing away at her laptop.

"Aria, can I ask you something?" Riley opens, eyes still on the bland ceiling.

"Hmm?" Aria hums.

Riley takes it as a go-signal, "You're good with words, right?"

"I hope so."

Riley turns to Aria just as the other girl is looking up from the screen of her laptop, "Is it possible to miss something that's been in front of you all along?"

If she's intrigued by the question, Aria doesn't show it. "Yeah," she nods.

"Even if it's something so big? Like life-changing big?"

"Hmm," Aria thinks for a moment. "I think that we don't necessarily miss it. I believe that big things come in different forms at different moments in our life."

"That's deep," Riley grins despite herself.

Aria smiles, "You know how sometimes, when you read a chapter in a book and parts of it don't make sense at all so you just interpret it the way you've understood the narrative? And when you get to the end when the story concludes, you're like _'oh, that's why Chapter 12 was so fuckin' weird'_?"

Riley nods, getting exactly what Aria is trying to say.

"It's exactly like that, except with people it's harder to tell when that _weird_ _Chapter 12_ happens. Sometimes, it's a series of _weird Chapter 12s_ until you realize it's been happening all along."

This silences Riley for a while. But she recovers, "So, I've been seeing it this whole time and I've just never really saw it right?"

Aria manages a tight-lipped smile as she nods in agreement.

Riley doesn't respond to that anymore and instead focuses on that feeling in her gut that's telling her that the moment from this morning is something else.

Her phone beeps and it serves as a welcome distraction.

It's Maya.

 _ **Honey, I'm home.**_

Riley releases a sigh. She wonders if Maya felt butterflies in her stomach when she sent this text because all Riley could feel right now are butterflies and somersaults.

And she thinks of blonde hair and blue eyes and for a split second she wonders how many more signs she'd been missing all this time.

* * *

Thoughts?


	2. Chapter 2

**Girl Meets First Day**

 **.**

 _Keep it cool, Riley. Keep it cool._

These are the words that Riley keeps repeating to herself as she walks down the halls of this rather unfamiliar building.

It's the first day of college and though she only has two classes today, it doesn't make it any less big.

She pulls out her phone and double checks the room of her first class, _History 101: Historical Interpretations._

Quite frankly, she's surprised she took up History as a major. All her life, she thought she wasn't going to be like her father.

Don't get her wrong. Her father she is a good teacher. He's one of the good ones and Riley would be honored to be even just a tiny bit like him. But Riley can't see herself as a teacher. So she's not a Cory. She can't see herself as a lawyer, so she's no Topanga either.

But back in the days of electives, she'd chosen to take up subjects that were sort of… safe—you know those subjects you pick because you're sure you won't fail and also because she really has no idea what she's interested in.

She isn't a Farkle or a Smackle—those kids who know exactly what they want. They both took the Science path. Farkle wants to become a scientist someday and Smackle is decided on taking on something more on the technology side of things.

Riley isn't a Zay or a Lucas—those two have golden tickets to their dreams. They wanted to be prized athletes and they both have the skill to make it.

And she certainly isn't a Maya. Not at all. Maya is a great artist; and Maya is a force to reckon with when she sets her heart onto something.

Riley… Riley on the other hand isn't _extremely good_ at anything. She can do a little bit of science and a little bit of athletics, sometimes a little bit of math; and when Maya really pushes her, she can do a little bit of art. But Riley can't think of talent or a skill that she would want to build her whole life on. Not science. Not sports. Not art.

So she settles on being _just Riley_. All her life, being _just Riley_ has always been enough. Unfortunately, _just Riley_ isn't a program offered at NYU.

She reaches Room 607 just in time; and by just in time she means she's five minutes earlier. To her surprise, she isn't the first one in. A couple of students are already inside the big lecture room.

She steps inside the room and walks toward the aisle where a set of stairs leads to the top row of seats. She settles for the middle part of the room. It's a big room and maybe, it'll feel less big sitting right in the middle.

It's a wonderful change from all those years she'd sat front row.

The room could fit about 50 students. 50 new people. 50 new souls.

She wonders for a bit if any of these 50 new people could be her friends.

She wonders for a bit if any of them is like Maya.

She wonders for a bit about how Maya is. Or what she's doing now. Is she having a blast in art school?

She wonders for a bit about Maya because the last few days, it's all her mind ever does.

.

Her classes ended sooner than she had wanted.

By the time she's walking back to her dorm, she can already recall a couple of faces that she shares the same classes with. She intends to speak with them the next time she shares a class with some of them.

College is weird.

All these people coming and going in different classes, and they expect you to get along just fine? It's weird. Riley's usually optimistic but this is just ridiculous.

She passes by a Chinese restaurant on her way back to her dorm. She grabs her phone from the pocket of her coat and punches a text to Aria.

 _Are you home? I could grab some dinner._

Riley momentarily steps to the aside and waits for Aria's reply. While waiting, she opens her Facebook Messenger app and what greets her instantly makes her smile.

Maya has been sending her chats all-day long.

She's been sending pictures of her classmates' work in _Drawing 101_ and makes a reference to what horrible job Riley's done before during art class. She punches a text to her bestfriend.

 **To Maya:** **  
** **My classes are done. And also, my purple cat is legendary.**

She smiles to herself thinking of all the legendary art classes they've had together. Riley for a second wonders if Maya's first day has been strange.

Today was strange for Riley.

Don't get her wrong. After the initial first day anxiety has worn off, she started getting comfortable and already got the slightest idea of how her classes are going to be like.

Still, not having her friends around is weird. She's seen someone in the class who's probably as smart as Farkle. She's seen someone as cute as Lucas. She's even seen some people like Smackle and Zay.

But there was no one there who was like Maya.

No one is making funny comments about what the teacher is saying. No one is doodling random stuff in her notebook when she thinks no one is looking. And granted, this isn't high school anymore but somehow, Riley had hoped there was going to be some sort of resemblance to the life she used to know.

Somehow, her life feels less like her life without Maya.

Her thoughts are interrupted when her phone beeps.

It's Aria.

 _You are a godsend. Surprise me. I'll eat anything. Thanks, Riley!_

Riley manages a small smile before she pockets her phone and walks inside the Chinese restaurant. She may not have made new friends in class today but at least her roommate is okay.

She's already better than Beca from Pitch Perfect who got a roommate as lively as a plant.

.

After an hour, Riley finds herself sitting on the floor with Aria as they munch on the Chinese food Riley bought.

"You should tour me around New York some time," Aria tells her.

Riley nods, "Absolutely! I'm a legit tour guide and you get it for free."

"I'd like that," Aria says with a smile. "How's first day, by the way? Did you make friends?"

"I only had two classes and barely spoke to anyone," Riley answers her question.

Aria nods, clearly getting what she's trying to say, "I told you so. The first day of college is the most boring first day ever."

"How were your classes today? Anything interesting? Any cute boys?" she giggles and winks at the last question.

Aria laughs, "Tons of cute boys but I have boyfriend."

Which reminds Riley, "Oh, right! The writer!"

Aria nods, "Yup. Ezra."

"Ugh," Riley mutters good-naturedly. "Even his name sounds poetic."

"You should know about his last name."

"Which is?"

"Fitzgerald."

"No way! It's like he's born to become a writer."

"I know, right."

"Mustn't it be nice, though? To be with someone who shares the same passion with you."

"Yeah it is. I mean, it makes the relationship easier. But mostly, it gets boring sometimes. Good thing we have different influences because otherwise I'll be bored to death."

Riley nods, not sure if she's agreeing or not. Mostly, she just doesn't know what to say. She doesn't have a great track record in romance. She's only been with one guy for three years. And though that may seem a lot, it doesn't feel like a lot.

"'Bout you? Met anyone interesting today?" Aria asks. She then stuffs another dumpling into her mouth.

Riley shrugs, "Everyone is interesting. I mean, I'm sure everyone has stories to tell from where they came from you know. But if you mean a crush, no. I'm not sure I'm looking for that."

"Any unfinished businesses from high school?"

Riley lets out a nervous laugh, "No. I… I'm not sure."

"You and the Lucas guy?"

Riley gives her a look instead of answering the question, "Have I really told you that much?"

Aria laughs, "Has anybody ever told you that you talk a lot?"

"Maya does."

"Remind me again why it didn't work out with the baseball guy?"

Riley shrugs, "We were just different. Or the same. I don't know. All I know is that love's supposed to feel like something else."

"Feel like what?"

"I don't know," she says, honestly. "But I was sure it wasn't what it felt like with Lucas."

"So you broke up with him even if you don't really know why?"

Riley shrugs, "Is that bad?"

"I won't say I'd recommend everyone doing it but remember about _weird Chapter 12_? The parts of your story that don't make sense at first but actually matters in the end?"

Riley only nods.

"Maybe, baseball guy is one of your _weird Chapter 12s_. The one you tried so hard to love enough but can't because maybe there's a reason."

"Would be nice to know the reason."

"Riley, you're young. You have so much time to figure that out."

"Yeah. You know, I kind of love and hate you."

"Why?" Aria asks with a laugh.

"You make me think about stuff so much!"

"You're the one asking so many questions lately," Aria tells her. "Even if I'd known you only for a few days, I can tell you have something big in your mind and you're scared to talk about it."

"I don't even know what I'm thinking even when I'm thinking it."

Aria chuckles, "Welcome to the real world, Riley."

.

After a few hours, Riley finds herself alone inside the room. Aria had to go to the bookstore to buy a reference material. She's just aimlessly browsing Facebook on her laptop when her phone's screen lights up, telling her that somebody is video calling her.

She didn't even need to look twice to know who it is.

She quickly shoots up from her seat and grabs her earphones. She plugs it in and before she answers the phone, she quickly fixes her hair. She also quickly glances at her reflection on the mirror just to make sure she looks okay.

Why? Don't ask her. She doesn't know. She probably doesn't even realize she's doing it.

"I'm surprised you even know how to answer a video call," Maya opens soon as the screen reveals her.

Riley laughs, "My father taught me stuff."

"Well at least he taught you something actually useful."

"Hey! My dad is a good teacher."

"I'm kidding, Riles," Maya says with a laugh. "How's first day?"

"It was weird. It wasn't like your first day where you had classmates who can draw like hell."

"I'm guessing you had teachers who actually teaches something?"

Riley grins, "Yeah."

Maya laughs, "See, that should count for something."

"I will tell my dad you keep joking about how bad he is."

"And I will tell Topanga you hate her pancakes."

"Okay, we're not telling anyone anything."

They share a laugh and Riley uses that opportunity to observe Maya's surroundings. It's like she's inside her room. The room seems dimly lit and it's only when Riley really focuses on Maya's face that she notices how blue her eyes are.

"Your eyes are like really blue," it was out of her mouth before she can stop it.

Maya chuckles, "Well, thank you for noticing. I put extra coloring today."

Riley laughs, "I mean, I've known it before. But I'm just really seeing it now, you know. 'Cause your face is too close to the camera."

Something in Maya's demeanor changes, "Yeah, at least it's not too late you noticed. Some things we never see even if it's right in front of us."

Riley opens her mouth to say something but no words come out. If Maya notices the shift in their conversation, she doesn't mention it.

Silence envelopes them for a while.

During those few seconds of momentary silence, Riley's heart starts thumping against her chest. She doesn't know why. She doesn't understand but being under Maya's intense gaze is making her stomach churn in something that feels like nothing she's ever felt before.

"Oh, by the way!" Maya breaks the silence. "I'll show you something."

Maya goes off-camera for a few moments before the screen reveals a half-finished painting of a girl with long brunette hair wearing a flower crown. Her dress is still just an outline, like she's not done yet but is about to become something really beautiful.

It's beautiful.

"It's you," Maya says, her voice is gentle. Like uttering words she's scared to break.

Riley smiles warmly, "Me? Why are you painting me?"

Maya shrugs nonchalantly, "Our first assignment in Drawing 101 is to draw something or someone that summarizes our story before we went to college. I thought of a lot of stuff and even thought of drawing Beary the Bear but you know, it always ends up with your stupid face."

She says it so casually. Maybe because she doesn't know how it affects Riley.

Riley wants to cry. She's nervous and excited and happy and overly emotional right now.

Then Maya looks at her as if saying something beyond words, "When I tell people my story, it always starts with you."

Maya smiles and her eyes are smiling, too.

And Riley thinks of blonde hair and blue eyes, and she thinks she knows why it never worked out with Lucas.


	3. Chapter 3

**Girl Meets Party**

.

November has got to be Riley's favorite month, if she has one.

New York has awesome Novembers. The weather is great—the days are not too warm like the harsh days of summer and the nights are not too cold like it is during winter nights. It's sweater and pea coat season; and all Riley ever want to do on these days is sit by her bed and read a book.

But of course, college is a whirlwind.

College has no chill.

College straight up drains all the energy you have in your body and then afterwards demands you to have more to give.

"I am so tired," Riley complains as she stands up, still sleepy from her four-hour sleep.

She glances on the vintage clock hung by Aria's side of the room. It's 7:30—and Aria's already dressed for her first class. She sees the girl gathering stuff from the top of her bed and stuffing them all inside her tiny faux-leather backpack.

By this time, after living together for about three months, Riley has already memorized Aria's schedule; and Aria has memorized hers.

"How are you able to drag yourself out of bed before 7:30?" Riley asks rhetorically. She more of whines, actually.

"College," Aria answers with a laugh. "Don't wait up for me tonight, by the way. You know where I'll be."

Riley nods, "The frat party."

"Yup, I'm still sad you can't come with us."

"It's just not my thing."

"Fine, but you know you should loosen up a bit."

"Maybe next time."

This time, Aria gives up, "Fine. Hold on," a pause, "Your classes start at 9, right?"

"Yup."

"You should probably stop procrastinating," Aria tells her as she gathers the last of her stuff from her desk. By this time, Riley knows it's a bunch of literary books. The girl is a Comparative Lit major with a minor in Creative Writing—and sometimes, Riley wonders what goes on inside a mind like hers.

Riley grunts childishly, "I hate college."

Aria shakes her head smilingly, "I better go or I'll be influenced by this Grumpy Riley here."

"Bye, Future Best Selling Novelist Aria Montgomery. Have fun with your life as I lay here fading away," she says dramatically.

Her roommate just laughs as she exits the room, closing the door gently behind her. She wonders sometimes how Aria remains so graceful. Riley can barely walk the hallway without tripping on her own feet.

Huffing, Riley fetches her phone from under her pillow.

"Just ten minutes on Facebook, I promise," she says out loud. The silence that responds to her just mocks her to no end.

She scrolls through Facebook and watches the first cat video she sees. After the 30-second video, she gives up on keeping up to date with everyone. She's almost going stop browsing the social media app but a particular photo gets her attention.

It's a photo Maya posted late last night. She must've missed it amid all the reading she's done.

The caption reads: _Drawing 101 is fucking exhausting_.

Riley smiles. She can already hear Maya's voice saying that very line.

She looks at the picture and as she focuses on Maya, her heart starts doing that thing where it beats slightly faster than normal. She still doesn't know what it means. History doesn't teach us these kinds of things.

Maya is captured sitting by the kitchen bar with a pencil on one hand a can of soda on the other. She's acting like she's drinking alcohol as the girl beside her is obviously laughing at it. There's paper laid in front of her and Riley instantly notices a glimpse of what she's drawing.

Riley can barely see it but she could swear it's an outline similar to that drawing Maya showed her in September—the very same drawing that has Riley all messed up and confused and thinking of something she doesn't really understand.

Maya is in her classic home-y look: a pair of gray sweatpants and a loose t-shirt. Her hair is up in a loose bun and her face—that stupid face is lighting up of something so genuine. Like Maya is in her element; like Maya is starting to realize who she is.

It melts Riley that she can see that spark in Maya's eyes even if it's just in a photograph. Has that spark been there all this time? Riley's not sure. But she's seen it before. She's seen this look on Maya before.

Riley lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

After staring the photo for a couple more moments, she hits the _Like_ button. It's only then does she acknowledge the girl sitting beside Maya.

She hasn't seen this girl before.

She already knows about Maya's housemate Hanna— _blonde, funny Hanna_ —but she doesn't know about this other girl. Is she another one of her housemates?

The housing setup for Maya is a lot different than hers. Unlike Riley, Maya has a room of her own inside an apartment where she lives with other freshman students. Maya mentioned once that she and Hanna are supposed to share the room with two other people, making it an apartment of four students, but they got lucky because the other tenants didn't come at all.

Has that changed now?

Has a new roommate arrived?

She takes a second look at the post and realizes that the girl in the photo is tagged. Maya Hart posted a photo—with **Tori Vega**. _Tori?_

Tori Vega?

Riley can't remember Maya ever mentioning a _Tori Vega_ ; and Riley doesn't recognize the sensation that creeps up her spine and the feeling that twists in her stomach violently.

When she clicks on the name, she can't say she has an explanation for the curiosity.

Tori Vega—whoever she is—is beautiful. That's the first thing she notices upon visiting the stranger's Facebook profile. The girl's profile is private but she can see the profile photos she's uploaded. She has that Latina vibe going on and Riley could swear she'll mistake the girl for Nina Dobrev had the situations been a little different. What stirs Riley the most is that Tori isn't from the same school as Maya—which only means one thing.

Tori and Maya met outside the school and are hanging out by choice.

Maya doesn't hang out with anyone by choice unless she absolutely likes them; which means she likes this Tori—and all of a sudden, Riley is wondering if Tori is like her in any way possible.

Is she a ray of sunshine every step of the way? Is she smart? Does she like Maya's art? Do they watch the same TV shows?

Again, Riley releases a breath she didn't know she was holding.

This time, she sets her phone down and grabs her towel. She needs a shower. She needs to go to class and busy herself with something.

 _Anything_.

.

Needless to say, it doesn't work.

Around the time her second class of the day rolls around, Riley is already feeling like she's approaching her stress limit. It's not even this class. This class (United States History to 1865) is interesting but for some reason, today's discussion isn't doing it for her.

Mr. Clarkson— _God,_ Riley loves him—prepared a lesson called _Andrew Jackson and the Trail of Tears_ , and all Riley could focus on are the words _trail of tears_ because of that horrible, violent feeling in her stomach.

Tori Vega is seeping slowly into her thoughts and she doesn't even know the girl.

For all she knows, it could be a friend of Hanna's or some random person Maya met somewhere. For all she knows, Tori Vega is just some irrelevant character in Maya's new chapter and here she is tearing herself apart. Why? Riley has no idea at all.

Luckily, the class passes by quickly. Soon as she steps outside the lecture room, Riley gets her phone and responds to a text that's been sitting in her inbox since last week. She opens her SMS thread with Aria and types a reply.  
 **  
That party you tonight, does the invite still stand?  
**  
 _ **Absolutely. Changed your mind yet?**_

 **Yup.**

 _ **First college party?**_

 **I am going to suck at this.**

 _ **You'll be fine, Riley. Ezra and I will pick you up at around 9 tonight. We'll grab a quick dinner first. He's driving.**_

That and Riley puts her phone back inside the pocket of her coat. Riley knows it's a bad idea. She's probably going to have alcohol way before it's legal for her to do so; and her parents are probably going to be so disappointed but you know how sometimes, we resort to different ways in distracting our minds from the thoughts were so scared to entertain?

This is it for Riley.

It's not a good idea; but Riley likes to believe it's going to be fine.

.

She's passing the time, just thinking about what she'll be wearing tonight, when her phone rings. It's Maya's ringtone and _God_ damn it! She didn't want to answer it but her hand instantly reaches for the phone like it's the most automatic thing in the world.

"Riles, are you making good decisions?" Maya asks soon as Riley answers the call.

She lets out a breath. She'd told Maya about her plan to embark on her first ever college party and of course, ever the protective friend, Maya had told her it's not a Riley thing to do. Maya was in class when Riley sent her the text and now, Riley can only assume Maya is about to spend her free time, trying to stop Riley from going to this party.

"Maya, it's a Friday."

"I know, I have a calendar here, too."

"Peaches…" she lets the word trail, hoping that this tactic works. Sweet-talking always works on Maya.

"Riles, are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm in college. I should be joining in," Riley justifies.

She doesn't see it but she can feel Maya nodding sarcastically to it, not agreeing one bit.

A few moments pass and Riley hears Maya release a breath on the other line, "Fine. But Aria's going to be there?"

"Yes."

"You trust her?"

"Yes, mom."

This time, Maya laughs. Two things happen to Riley at that moment. First, her stomach does That Thing again and second, she's relieved that Maya isn't opposed to the idea.

"Any plans tonight?" she asks Maya, although she's vaguely terrified of the answer.

"I'm going out with some new friends."

"Make good choices, okay?"

Maya laughs, "I'll try."

"Call me when you get home so I know you're safe."

"Yup. You, too, 'kay?"

"Nah, you're probably still out by the time I get home," Riley says.

Maya laughs, "You're going to a frat party, Riles. What time do you think that ends?"

"10?" Riley asks. It's like a long-running inside joke between them.

"It starts at 10, honey."

"It starts at 10?" she gasps dramatically and Maya only laughs.

There's silence between them for a while. Sometimes, Riley's imagination tells her that they're supposed to say something important during this silence. That instead of this silence, there should be words and those words should be important.

"I gotta go now, Riles. Send me pictures."

"I will!"

"Love you," Maya tells her and her heart flips momentarily.

"Love you, too, Peaches," she says and then they hang up.

It's weird. They've been saying those words to each other all their lives. How come it has a different effect to Riley now?

 _I am dying here._

.

It's a casual frat party.

Aria told her not to dress up too much so she settles for a simple black dress and a pair of boots. She tops it with her favorite pea jacket.

She hasn't heard from Maya since they spoke on the phone earlier but she punches a text to her anyway, saying she's headed to the party.

It's approaching 11PM when Riley, Aria, and Ezra get to the party. There are so many people everywhere dancing, kissing, singing obnoxiously, playing beer pong, and some are just chatting the night away.

Aria and Ezra introduce her to some of the people there but their names quickly escape her memory soon as somebody hands her a beer.

She takes the bottle of beer but before she could mindlessly chug at it, Aria momentarily stops her and asks, "Are you sure?"

Riley nods and then takes a huge gulp. She's had a beer before so the taste doesn't surprise her. It still doesn't surprise her on her second bottle, or her third.

But by the time she's halfway through her fourth bottle, her vision is already blurry and she can barely stand without falling. This is it.

She's drunk at her first college party and although it seems bad, something about it makes Riley feel free. The loud party effectively distracts her from her thoughts. She didn't know it could feel like this. She probably won't be drinking this much again but as she tries to find her way out of the smelly, crowded frat house, she smiles.

She smiles because it's freeing to be _just Riley_. She's not Cory and Topanga's daughter, or Maya's best friend, or Lucas' ex-girlfriend. She's _just Riley_ and hell, being _just Riley_ feels absolutely amazing right now.

As she reaches the door of the frat house, she feels a hand tug gently at her wrist. Through her blurry vision, she recognizes Ezra.

"You're done here, Riley."

"But I—"

"No buts," Aria interrupts as she slides by Riley's other side. She grabs Riley's arm and hangs it over her shoulders. Aria is a bit shorter than her so that goes without much effort. "We're going home."

Giving up, Riley just nods. She can't handle any more alcohol anyway.

"She's so cute," Ezra says.

"Maya will kill me," Aria mutters and Riley wants her to clarify but she can hardly walk or speak or stand. She's leaning all of her weight to Ezra and Aria; and _God_ , _I'm never drinking again._

.

The journey back to the dorm is full of Riley singing drunkenly to whatever song is playing on the radio. She just says words that are similar to the actual lyrics and in that moment, she just lets go. She's singing on top of her lungs and Aria is singing along with her.

Riley doesn't care if she'd just violated the law tonight. Her mom's a lawyer, she knows. But tonight is fun and distracting; and even just for a few hours, she didn't think of blonde hair and blue eyes. She didn't think of her best friend having a new entire life without her.

It's _just Riley;_ and as she stumbles from the car to the building's elevator, she tries to ignore that little voice in her said that's telling her it kinda feels empty; that it kinda feels empty to be _just Riley_ without Maya.

"What time is it?" she asks Aria, who is still holding her up. For a small girl, Aria is doing an excellent job keeping up with a klutz like Riley. Ezra wanted to help but Aria insisted he waits in the car, promising she won't take long settling Riley back inside their room.

"Almost 2AM," Aria replies.

Riley's eyes widen, "Oh my God."

Aria laughs, "Look at you, still out way past your bedtime."

"I'm sorry I ruined your night, Aria," Riley apologizes.

"It's fine, I had fun. It's not like you followed us around. You held your own and you did an amazing job. A+ on your first college party," her roommate says laughingly. "And I also expected you to be wasted after a few drinks."

"How so?"

"Maya," Aria replies. "She messaged me on Facebook, threatening my life if anything happened to you tonight."

Riley laughs carelessly, "That's a Maya thing to do."

Aria nods, "You guys have an amazing friendship."

Riley just smiles sheepishly and giggles to herself.

As the elevator reaches their floor, they walk—err, stumble—slowly to their room. Riley tries hard not to trip on the way to the room and Aria tries hard not to laugh every time Riley almost falls.

As they approach their room, Riley could swear her drunken thoughts are giving her delusions because Maya is there sitting on the floor across their room. She's scribbling away on her drawing pad and it's only when Aria and Riley are in front of her does she look up.

Upon seeing Riley, Maya smiles. "Riley Matthews, good girl gone bad," Maya greets as she quickly stuffs her sketchbook onto her backpack just sitting beside her. She stands and that's when Riley could really see her. Her vision's still a bit blurry.

"Maya?" Riley says her name before turning to Aria. "You're seeing this, too, right?"

"Yup, and I'm very scared."

Maya laughs as she walks to Riley's other side and swings her free arm over her shoulders, "I got this, Aria."

The other girl quickly shuffles apart from Riley and stretches her back. "This," she points to Riley, "is a lot of work."

Maya nods and smiles like she knows exactly what Aria is saying, "I know."

"Let's get you inside," Maya tells Riley, making a move toward the door.

"No, let's sit here for a while. The room is spinning," Riley pleads.

"Okay, honey. Let's just sit here for a while."

Maya gently helps Riley sit on the floor and rest her back against the wall. As Riley tries to recover, Maya turns to Aria, "Thanks."

"No worries, it's for all the times she'd proofread my papers," Aria says. "I better go, though."

"Have fun tonight," Maya winks at her playfully.

Aria laughs, "Shut up."

Sitting there, Riley watches the interaction and is secretly happy that they look like they've known each other for so long. For somebody who claims to hate people, Maya sure has a soft spot for Aria.

Aria soon walks back to the elevator as Maya takes the seat beside Riley.

"How many did you have?" Maya asks, her voice soft and gentle.

Riley thinks for a moment, "Three and a half."

"This is a new record for you."

"I know!" Riley confirms proudly.

Maya laughs at her antics as she reaches for her backpack and pulls out a bottle of water. She takes the cap off before handing it to Riley, "Here you go. Drink up."

Riley takes the bottle of water from her and sips.

Silence once again envelopes them. This is becoming a habit.

It somehow bothers Riley because she feels like there are words floating around them, waiting for them to say it; like there's something they need to say but can't pick all the right words to make up a sentence.

"Do you remember the first time you had a drink?"

Riley nods, "Senior year."

They both smile at the memory.

It was one April weekend during Senior Year that the gang decided to spend the night at Shawn's cabin upstate. Shawn and Katy went to visit his family that weekend so the kids had the place to themselves. And like every chic flick there is, the night involved some drinking games.

It was fun and there was underage drinking; and Riley thinks it's the first time it started sinking in to her that they're growing up. That soon, they'll be going off to college and have a new life, new friends, new dreams.

That night, Riley prayed that she could still be part of everyone's lives by the time they start writing their new chapters. That night too, Riley decided she's going to make Maya a part of her new chapter.

It could be a whole new book or a whole new story but Maya will still be there; because Riley has imagined so many kinds of worlds. She has imagined a life where Game of Thrones is real. She has imagined life after death. She has imagined a post-apocalyptic life. And all those versions of reality, she had Maya there.

She had Maya in every world she could think of and Riley used to think it's because she's her best friend in the world but now, she doesn't know anymore.

She thinks she missed a very important detail in her past.

"You had _one_ beer that night and you started singing Katy Perry right on Smackle's ear just to annoy her," Maya recalls fondly.

Despite herself, Riley laughs, "Even Smackle held alcohol better than I did."

Maya rolls her eyes good-naturedly, "To her credit, she held alcohol better than the rest of us."

"I still don't believe it."

They both laugh at it, remembering that Smackle was the one who won all the drinking games Zay set up for the night. They were all tipsy and Smackle stood there after it all, looking down at them like they're sore losers.

 _Silence._

Riley can feel the tipsy slowly wearing off.

It's 2AM and she's sitting on the hallway floor with Maya after a long night of drinks and distraction. She leans her head on Maya's shoulder.

"Are you really here?" she asks.

Maya chuckles, "Honey, you're just tipsy. You're not hallucinating."

"I just thought you were out with your friends."

"I was," Maya says, shifting slightly and relaxing against Riley. "But I had to catch the last train bound to Central Station."

"You didn't have to."

"I wanted to."

"It's four hours, Maya."

"That's nothing. I wanted to see you get all wasted."

Riley laughs, "I admire your motivations in life."

"I can't let you make bad decisions without me."

"You are an angel."

"Heh," Maya giggles. "Also, I was on a date tonight."

It sounded so casual.

It sounded so _fucking_ casual that's why Riley couldn't understand why it feels like her heart is being ripped from her chest and getting it slammed against the wall.

 _Oh._ "Oh."

"Yeah."

They stay still—sitting on the floor with their backs against the wall. Riley's head is on Maya's shoulder. The room isn't spinning anymore. Whatever spinning was happening before, it's been replaced by the loud, silent sound of a boulder being dropped on Riley's entire body and suddenly, she can't move.

She can't look up at Maya.

Because _I was on a date tonight_ freaking hurts.

"You—" she stutters, "you ditched a date to see me get all wasted?"

"Yeah."

"Why did you do that?"

"'Cause she wasn't you."

"What?"

"Nothing."

She finally gets the strength to look up at her best friend.

"What did you say?"

Maya shrugs, "I've ditched dates for you before. It's not like it's the first time."

"Junior Year Michael Peterson, Summer Fling Clark Allen, and Senior Year Megan Edwards don't count."

Maya just laughs as she grabs her backpack and stands, "One of those could've ended up as my one true love and I passed on the opportunity because of you."

She extends her hand with a smile, quietly asking her friend to pull her up, "That's because you love me."

Maya takes her hand and pulls her up, "I think you have no idea how much."

Hand in hand, they walk inside the dorm room.

And Riley thinks of blonde hair and blue eyes and she thinks she has an idea now.

* * *

Thoughts?


	4. Chapter 4

**Girl Meets Lancaster, Part I**

.

It's rare for Riley to think of it as a good thing but on days like this, she's grateful that she's raised in a city where walking could get you faster to your destination than driving or taking a cab. Growing up in a city like New York helped her develop her patience in walking blocks upon blocks of distances.

That's why this 20-minute walk from Lancaster Station to Maya's loft doesn't bother her that much.

Maya isn't coming home until the last three days of Thanksgiving break so Riley decided to _surprise_ her today by visiting her for the first time ever. Since they parted ways for college, it's always Maya who comes home almost every weekend to see Riley—and sometimes Shawn and Katy.

(When she visits upstate, it's mostly because of Luke, her two-year old brother; because _yup_ , that happened.)

With a week and half of break from school, Riley did her research and familiarized herself with Google Maps. She's about to grace Maya with a surprise visit and Riley can only hope to God that she isn't the one who gets surprised instead.

 _What could possibly happen?_

Well, she'd stopped asking herself this question because years of experience taught her that surprises for Maya—while fine—always finds a way to kick your butt and into the mud.

As she starts walking by the narrow sidewalk, Riley pulls her coat as closer to her body as she can. Riley can tell it's a lot colder in New York but there's something in the air of Lancaster that makes it a lot different. There's something in the air that makes Riley feel like she's actually in a different city.

It's a brisk, cloudy day toward the end of November. So when the cold wind blows past her, it doesn't surprise her that much. What surprises her is that despite it being the late days of fall, there's still color everywhere she looks.

Some trees have thinned out but some are still donning the fire colors of the season.

There was a time when the changing of seasons meant going shopping and buying new clothes but as you grow up, the changing of the season becomes less about the weather and more about perspective, like there's a deadline for something. Like a decision or a change of mind has to be done before the winter comes.

Her thoughts are interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing. It's not Maya's ringtone so she's sure she's not busted.

She fishes her phone from the pocket of her coat and picks up, "Hey, Farkle."

"Did you make it?" he asks from the other like.

Riley smiles, "I made it past the train ride, yes. I am walking to her apartment now."

"You could've just hailed a cab, you know."

"I know, but it's a 20-minute walk. Eighteen if I didn't have to talk to you."

Farkle laughs, "At least text me when you get there, okay?"

"Yes, Farkle. Thank you."

"And Riley—"

"—here we go," she interrupts, managing a small smile. She can tell that Farkle senses something.

He's been asking her " _what's up with you"_ the last few weeks when Riley started sharing sad, downtempo music and captions it with killer lyrics. Riley's more of an uptempo, indie-pop kinda girl so just imagine Farkle's surprise when she posted Sleeping At Last's _Neptune_ along with the caption: _I wanna tell you but I don't know how_.

Riley has thought about telling him about her _thoughts_ lately but how do you do that?

How do you tell somebody that your best friend might have been in love with you for so long and that you're just figuring it out now?

"Be careful, okay?" he says, his tone is deep and warning, like he means something beyond the words being said.

"I will. Thank you, Farkle," she says.

They hang up a few seconds later and Riley blames that phone call for the dread that suddenly creeps up her spine.

.

She takes a deep breath and takes off her beanie before she knocks on the door. She'd seen the sign downstairs and knew that she's in the right building.

Not a beat passes and the door opens, revealing a blonde, short-haired girl whose skin is of rose and milk that perfectly complements her baby blue eyes.

"Hi," Riley breathes out. "I'm looking for Maya."

"Oh," the girl—Hanna, as she recalls from Maya's pictures and stories—nods as she steps aside and makes way for Riley. "Come in."

Riley steps in and is immediately impressed by the loft. She's instantly greeted by the pastel-colored living room which is spacious enough for a big sofa and a TV set, as well as a wooden coffee table covered with art supplies.

She straightaway recognizes the kitchen bar where that photo of Maya (and Tori) was taken. It's homey and it's Maya in so many ways that Riley knows she's inside the correct apartment.

"Maya's not here," the girl tells her. "I'm Hanna," she introduces herself.

"Riley," Riley introduces herself as well, extending a hand out of habit. She beams because she's glad that she's finally meeting Maya's housemate.

"Oh," Hanna manages with a smile as she shakes Riley's hand.

"I know you from the pictures," Hanna tells her.

"I know you from the pictures, too."

Hanna smiles as she leads Riley to the coat rack and helps her with her backpack.

"It's fine, I—" Riley hesitates only to be interrupted by Hanna.

"Pfft—no big deal. Your backpack looks heavier than you," she says laughingly, as she takes the backpack and settles it on the couch.

Riley, on the other hand, takes off her coat and hangs it on the rack.

"Surprise visit?" Hanna asks.

"Yeah."

"She'll be thrilled to see you."

"Where is she?"

Hanna makes her way to the kitchen as Riley takes a seat on the couch.

"She's doing commission work at a coffee shop," Hanna tells her.

"I see."

"I can take you there."

Riley's eyes light up as she turns to Hanna. She turns just in time to see the girl pour coffee into a large mug, "Really?"

Hanna nods, "Yeah."

"Thank you."

Hanna shrugs, "Coffee?"

"No, thanks. I don't drink coffee."

Hanna smiles, "I know."

"You know?"

Hanna rolls her eyes good-naturedly as she grabs her mug and walks to Riley. In a second, Hanna is sitting beside her, "Maya won't shut up about you. I feel like I know you already."

Riley laughs, "I hope she's saying good things."

"That girl couldn't say anything bad about you even if she tried."

There's Riley's heart again, beating faster than it should.

"You're blushing," Hanna tells her bluntly.

"I am?"

Hanna just nods.

 _Jesus Christ._

Maya wasn't wrong about Hanna. She's blunt and she speaks her mind.

"I have a gig in an hour so if I'll walk you there, I'll have to take you there now," Hanna suggests. "I hope the commute didn't wear you out much."

Riley shrugs, "It was a nice trip overall. A bit chilly but nice."

"Chilly is a nice way to put it," Hanna smiles as she stands. "If you want anything, there's the kitchen. Make yourself at home. I'll be ready in 10."

Riley nods, "Thank you. You're so nice."

"Yeah, that's the first thing they say about me. Just until they really meet me," the blonde says laughingly as she starts heading toward the direction of her room just past the kitchen behind them. She stops on her tracks momentarily and points at the door on the other side of the living room. "That's Maya's room if you want to settle your bag in, I bet the kids you kidnapped are suffocating in there."

Riley laughs, "It wasn't that heavy!"

Hanna just shakes her head laughingly before she disappears to her room.

All of a sudden, Riley feels small in the middle of the room. She straightens her back and stares blankly at the door of Maya's room.

She contemplates whether or not to go into the room uninvited.

All their lives, they've kept no secrets from one another. At least that's what Riley wants to believe. They don't have boundary issues with each other. Even though Maya has constantly insisted that she hates it when people violate her personal space, she made Riley an exception to that rule.

That personal space includes the privacy of their rooms. For goodness sake, Maya has climbed to her window since they were kids. If they had issues with each other, privacy isn't going to be it.

However, college isn't like the old times anymore. They have their own lives now and who knows, a few months apart may have changed a lot of things for Maya that she isn't talking to Riley about. Also, with her recent _suspicions_ , Riley debates with herself whether or not she's ready to see _something_ there.

 _What if…_

She shakes her head and dismisses the thought.

She grabs her backpack—which is actually heavy now that she thinks about it—and heads to Maya's room.

Heart pounding against her chest and threating to jump out of its place, Riley pushes the door open. She closes her eyes for reasons she doesn't know and only when she'd closed the door behind her does she slowly open her eyes.

Once her eyes have adjusted to the light (or the lack of it), she looks around the room.

Contrary to the pastel colors of the kitchen and the living room, the walls of Maya's room are pale. It's not white like hospital rooms but more like with a mild touch of blue. The accents of her room are black—the chair by her study desk, the frame of the sole window, and the curtains gently pushed to the side.

The wooden headboard of her bed are spray painted with different accents of purple and blue that make it look like a galaxy. Her bed sheets and pillow cases are white.

It makes Riley smile because she can picture Maya here, on her bed, randomly doodling stuff on her drawing pad when it's snowing outside.

It's a great contrast to Maya's room in New York where there's pink everywhere you look. Katy was the one who bought Maya all those pink stuff and Maya had let her because to her, the most important thing is that Katy tries.

Riley walks to the bed and sees that there are pictures on the wall beside Maya's bed. The pictures are placed low enough that when you're lying on your side, you can see it right away.

Of course, there's a picture of Shawn and Katy with Maya on the night of their wedding. There's a picture of Luke when he was born.

There's a picture of the whole gang. It's a picture of them in one of the small booths at Topanga's. It seems everyone is laughing while Maya has a straight expression on her face and Riley is wrapping her arms around her. Riley doesn't remember this picture or who took it but she can only guess that she said something silly about Maya and Maya's keeping her cool demeanor about it.

It makes Riley giggle a bit but what takes her breath is the other picture on the wall.

It's the same high school graduation picture she's put up in her dorm in New York.

It's the picture of them taken on the day they graduated high school. They're both wearing their graduation cap and gown, sitting happily by the bay window. Riley is making a goofy face at the camera while Maya is looking at her smilingly, her eyes shining of something Riley can't put a finger on.

Just looking at the picture makes Riley's heart beat fast, again; the way it always does when she thinks of Maya.

Her reminiscing is interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hello from the other side," Hanna calls out from… the other side of the door.

Riley laughs at it and walks to the door. Once she pulls the door open, she says, "I like you."

Hanna giggles, "Maya hates it when I talk to her using song lyrics. You ready? We could head out now."

"Yup," Riley says with a nod.

"Let's go then."

That and they both head out into the chilly streets of Lancaster.

.

They walk about three blocks constantly chatting about a TV show Hanna just recently finished. Riley's never seen it but she's read the book. So, you know, just imagine how that conversation could go for miles.

They were just talking about the finale and a major character death that wasn't in the book when Hanna stops and points to a vintage-themed coffee shop.

"This is it," Hanna says.

There's a huge retro signage that reads _The Blues._

"It's a popular place around here. Live music on Thursdays and Poetry Slam on Fridays. Maya digs it."

Riley smiles, "Yeah, that's her thing."

Hanna nods, "Yup, so just go inside and head to the second floor. The second floor hasn't opened yet. They're expanding. Just tell 'em you're looking for Maya."

"For real?"

"Yeah, Maya's a mainstay on _live music Thursdays_. _She performs a lot of indie."_

 _Oh_. Maya never mentioned that.

When Riley wouldn't respond, Hanna speaks up again, "I gots to go now, have a bus to catch. Nice to meet you Riley."

"Nice to meet you to, Hanna. Thank you for walking me."

Hanna smiles mischievously, "I'll have Maya pay for it with free coffee."

Riley laughs at that and then all of a sudden, she's alone again. But she's never been more excited to see her best friend.

.

 _The Blues_ got the whole retro feel perfectly. From the wall décor down to the glass they're using for the beverages, the details are covered.

She walks past the bar and when the barista asks her what she's here for, she only utters Maya's name. Nodding, the barista points to a flight of stairs and Riley doesn't hesitate as she walks toward it.

Reaching the second floor, she's greeted by an empty space only lighted by a single yellow light bulb and by natural light coming from the huge windows to her left. There are paint-covered newspaper pages all over the floor, and in the middle of the room are cans of different colors of paint.

To her right is a wall and by the wall is Maya. She's facing the wall with a paintbrush on one hand and a can of paint on the other. She's busy painting an area with blue and as she does, she's humming a song silently to herself.

That's only when Riley notices that she has her headphones on.

You know that feeling when everything seems to be slowing down and suddenly, you notice every single detail there is?

Standing there just a couple of feet away from Maya, Riley notices that her best friend is in her element. Her hair is up on a lose ponytail and her jumper pants are just as paint-stained as everything else. Her black shirt perfectly fits her well—and _God_ , Riley doesn't know when she started making these observations but she knows this can't be good.

"Maya," she greets. She's not sure if she said that too soft but since Maya hasn't turned around it means, she didn't say it loud enough.

That's when she notices what Maya is working on. It's a mural—an almost finished mural of a 50s diner. It's mostly shades of blue with specs of red and orange; and if Riley thought Maya was talented before, she's thinking _talented_ doesn't do it justice now.

"Riles?" Maya's voice pulls her out of her reverie.

She turns her attention to Maya who has a smile and a look of pleasant surprise on her face.

"Peaches," she breathes out.

"Oh my God," Maya mutters.

"Hey," Riley greets playfully managing a small wave.

As Maya settles the can and the paintbrush on the ground and as she pulls her earphones out, everything slows down again.

Riley's heart is doing that thing again.

Maybe it's the light; or maybe it's the three-hour commute but whatever it is, it's making Riley feel things she's sure she's not supposed to feel—because standing there and seeing Maya's happy, paint-stained face, all she wants to do is _kiss_ her.

This feeling, this urge—it's new.

The next thing she knows, Maya is hugging her and that's only when the clichéd slowing down of things stops.

"What are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"I wanted to surprise you!" Riley is impressed at how fast she managed to get her act together.

"Well, I'm surprised. I thought you're helping out at the bakery!" Maya says, eyes lighting up of sheer happiness and excitement.

"Say it, Maya. I'm getting better at lying," she says proudly.

Maya laughs, "Okay, I have to say. I believed you when you said that."

"Mission accomplished!" Riley says with a dramatic flick of the wrist.

"Wait. Where's your stuff? How did you—"

"Hanna."

"Oh, you guys already met."

"I already like her."

Maya nods approvingly.

Riley adds, "There's a chance I like her more than I like you."

Maya shakes her head smilingly, "Not possible."

Riley concedes with a laugh, "Yeah. I'm not getting good at this whole lying thing."

"Nope."

They share a laugh and for a moment there, everything seems like they're the same old Riley and Maya; except just a moment ago, Riley wanted to kiss her.

Riley wanted— _wants_ —to kiss Maya.

Once again, Maya interrupts her thoughts, "Hey, I'll just cleanup—"

"No, it's fine. You can work and I can just sit here and take pictures," she grins.

"No. I can finish this up tomorrow. I'll just clean up for a bit and then we'll go back to the loft, 'kay?"

"Sounds good."

"Call your mom and tell her you made it here. I don't want Topanga to call me all worried that you got lost on a three-hour train ride."

Riley laughs, "Yeah, I better do that."

Before Maya could walk back to where she'd left her materials, she asks, "How long are you staying for?"

Riley lets out a huge grin, "Let's just say we're going home together for Thanksgiving."

Maya's eyes widen, "Three days! You're staying for three days!"

"Yes!" Riley confirms in excitement. "My backpack was really heavy!"

"Oh my gosh!" Maya hugs her once more and kisses her on the cheek. "I love you! I'll tour you around the city!"

Riley's sure Maya is still talking as she's cleaning up her supplies but Riley's world has momentarily stopped because Maya kissed her on the cheek and told her she loved her—and if this was a movie, the theme song must be playing in the background by now.

She moves to the big windows as she grabs her phone. She sends her mom a text saying she made it to Lancaster safely; but she also punches a text to Farkle.

 **To: Farkle Minkus  
I know you said you didn't want to come home for Thanksgiving. Change of plans. We need to talk.**

She clutches her phone tightly in her hands as she watches Maya move around the room so effortlessly, like she's been doing it all her life.

Riley is standing there and all she could think of is that she needs more of it—more kisses, more _I love you's_ —and it's great but it's probably also wrong but hey, all good books and movies are about great loves.

And Riley thinks of blonde hair and blue eyes; and she thinks that if there's a _great love_ somewhere it should feel like this—like flying and falling, and altogether unnerving.

* * *

Thoughts?


End file.
